Stage 1 in effect Monday

By JIM MANN

Fire restrictions are planned for Northwest Montana

The Daily Inter Lake

A recent rash of fire-starts on the Kootenai National Forest and ongoing hot, dry weather have led to fire restrictions that will be imposed Monday across Northwest Montana.

A group of local, state and federal fire managers made the decision Tuesday to implement Stage I fire restrictions for the Flathead and Kootenai national forests, Glacier National Park, Montana Department of Natural Resource lands, and Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties.

In an unusual move, the restrictions also will apply to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

The restrictions mainly address smoking and campfires in forested areas:

. Campfires are allowed only in developed or improved campgrounds and recreation sites;

. Camp stoves or gas grills are allowed in other areas;

. Smoking is allowed only in enclosed vehicles or buildings, developed recreations areas or in areas of at least 3 feet in diameter that are cleared of flammable materials.

Fireworks are prohibited in all areas where the restrictions apply.

Allen Chrisman, fire management officer for the Flathead National Forest, said the decision was prompted mainly by conditions in the Kootenai forest, and the likelihood that other areas in the Northwest Montana soon would be just as dry.

"For consistency, we wanted to make sure that we are all on the same page," Chrisman said.

During the conference call, Kootenai forest fire officials reported that they've had about two dozen new fire starts during the past week, "and a significant number of them were human-caused," Chrisman said.

On the Kootenai forest, indices for monitoring the dryness of various forest fuel types are "tracking ahead" of the numbers that were measured at this time in the banner fire year of 2000, Chrisman said.

"We're not as bad here on the Flathead," he said.

However, fuel conditions are exceptionally dry in the Swan Valley near Condon.

The decision to implement fire restrictions in the wilderness complex was prompted by input from wilderness managers who were meeting Tuesday near Ovando, Chrisman said.

The wilderness area often is excluded from fire restrictions because of its higher-elevation forests that dry out slowly.

"I think conditions on the east side of The Bob are worse than what we are seeing here on the west side," Chrisman said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.